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Probably one of the biggest lessons that a freshman needs to learn before even his second semester is how absolutely awful the campus book store is.  First let’s break down the name…Book-store.  So based on this it would seem that this is where one would go to purchase books for class.  And considering that this is the campus book store, one could also assume that this would guarantee the availability of all the books for all the classes.  This assumption, while justified, couldn’t be more wrong.  

Now, as a first semester freshmen, most students probably don’t know about all the pre-ordering possibilities offered through not only the campus bookstore, but also several online sources and the used bookstore down the street.  This information is withheld on purpose.  The bookstore actually enjoys watching new freshmen scramble for their books the day before school starts.  

And to make the game even more enjoyable for them, the employees at the bookstore play dumb every time a student asks them about some needed books.   Sometimes they don’t even bother to look up when asked questions, as they are probably just tying to finish their game of solitaire.  It also seems as if more information could be gathered about shipments by asking the books themselves rather than ask an employee.  

“Excuse me, do you know when the next shipment of you is coming in?”

Now, these books don’t actually give an answer, but at least they don’t lie either.  

Another great thing about the campus book store-and this is especially true of the smaller schools-is that since it is probably the only place that carries any kind of school merchandise, they really want to utilize that position.  Adding the name of the school to any kind of item at least doubles the price right then and there.  How the people who work at the bookstore are able to sleep at night knowing that they are basically just taking money from poor college students is a mystery.  One theory is that they don’t sleep, but because they are an elite group of money loving insomniacs that run on the smell of money.  Considering how much it costs to get just a simple sweatshirt, it would seem that these people could be energized for the rest of the day by the profits that they get from one such sweatshirt.  

The campus bookstore truly is a necessary evil… which is probably what makes them evil in the first place.  They know that students can’t survive on campus with out them.  And since it’s not enough to see the smiling faces of these poor college students who are already paying ridiculous tuition, more money can obviously be squeezed from either them or their parents.  And thus, the vicious cycle continues: Student gives bookstore money enough for two shirts, bookstore gives them back one.